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maandag 21 januari 2013

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Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque composer born in Venice. He was baptised by the midwife right after his birth due to his weak health, and suffered from asthma his whole life. Antonio was the sixth child of a barber turned violinist, and it was his father who taught him to play the instrument.

At the age of fifteen, Antonio began a course of studies to prepare himself for a career in church, and he was ordained at the age of 25. Due to his health problems he was relieved of his duty to say the Mass, and was sent to work in a state-sponsored orphanage teaching girls to play violin, writing a lot of music for their orchestra and choir.

He also wrote many operas and became famous abroad, so that he was invited to Vienna by the emperor, who unfortunately died very soon afterwards, leaving Vivaldi in a strange city, without any means, which led to the composer's death at the age of 63 from an infection.

After Antonio's death, his music became largely forgotten, until its rediscovery in the early XXth century. His most famous work is The Four Seasons. If you'd like to know more about him, read the Wiki article here.